Therapeutic Laser For Chronic Low Back Pain

By William J. Kneebone, CRNA, DC, CNC, DIHom

Laser therapy offers a safe and effective treatment modality as either primary or
adjunctive therapy.

Low back pain will affect 75-85% of all Americans at some point
during their lifetime. Approximately 50% of them will have a recurrence within a year.
Approximately 90% improve without surgery.1 Low back pain is the number 2
reason that Americans see their doctorsecond only to colds and flu. Approximately
7.4% of patients with low back pain account for 75% of the money spent on low back pain.3
The vast majority of acute low back pain is the result of injury such as sprain or strain,
while the cause of chronic low back pain is multi-factorial.2 Chronic low back
pain is defined as pain of more than three months duration. It occurs in 2-8% of those who
experience low back pain.3

These structures do not fully account for the pain experienced by many chronic low back
pain sufferers. The exact mechanisms of the causes of chronic low back pain continue to be
a mystery. Recent scientific studies have implicated a number of chemical mediators as
possible contributors to the production of chronic low back pain. These include:

Patients with chronic low back pain may also have emotional factors such as depression
with a four times higher incidence of clinical depression than those without chronic low
back pain. Studies have shown that 62% of the patients treated at pain clinics for low
back pain have some type of depression.5'

Please refer to the Jan/Feb 2007 issue for the complete text. In the event you need to order a back issue, please click here.

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